Tokyo Bay Hairtail Jigging
5 Recommended Metal Jigs
To be honest, I think half of your catch in Tokyo Bay hairtail jigging comes down to jig choice. It's a popular target you can easily fish for numbers and size on a half-day boat, but I've seen it happen many times: on the same boat, only the person who found the "hot" jig keeps catching. In this article I've picked, from the jigs I've actually fished on Tokyo Bay, five jigs of different types that "you can't go wrong having first." It also covers hooks that stand up to teeth and tips for choosing — everything you need in one article.
*The selections in this article are based on the fishing experience of the editor (INU48). ★ ratings are the editor's subjective ratings. You can check each product's latest prices and review counts (ratings from real users) on Rakuten via each link.
The Essentials | 3 Points for Choosing Hairtail Jigs
① Choose 60–130g depending on depth and current
Tokyo Bay's depth and currents vary a lot. As long as you can feel the bottom, the lighter the better for detecting bites; fast currents and deep water call for heavier jigs. Build your set around roughly 60g, 80g and 100g, with a little either side, and you'll be ready for any day.
② Tungsten (TG) for finicky fish, lead for turnaround and losses
At the same weight, tungsten is smaller and falls faster, so it works on tough days and pressured schools. But you lose a lot of jigs to teeth and snags, so always carry wallet-friendly lead jigs as spares. Using both is the basic approach.
③ When bites are scarce, add appeal with a blade jig
When fish are sluggish or you want to pick them up on a straight retrieve, the flash and vibration of jigs with a rear blade do the trick. Red-gold, zebra glow and full glow are the proven colors.
Reference Video | Jig Selection for Tokyo Bay
Source: YouTube, "[Hairtail Jigging] Jig Selection to Improve Your Catch in Highly Competitive Tokyo Bay / Susumu Yoshioka" (in Japanese). It explains how to think about jig weight and color from real fishing experience — worth watching alongside this article's selection tips.
5 Recommended Metal Jigs
DAIWA TG Bait SLJ
★ 4.0When in doubt, this is the one. Tungsten gives it a small silhouette and a quick, clean fall for great turnaround. It gets fish to bite on tough days and during small-bait patterns. The red-gold was my main jig on Tokyo Bay trips and really helped me rack up numbers — a jig I trust. If you buy just one, I recommend this.
DAIWA Kyoga Jig Basic 130g
★ 4.0The lead standard of DAIWA's hairtail-specific "Kyoga" line. Its asymmetrical body slides and flashes as it falls, drawing hard bites on the drop. For the heavier rotation in deep water and fast currents. It's reasonably priced, so honestly it's a relief to throw it without worrying — it's a consumable.
Aqua Wave Metal Magic TG 50g
★ 3.0Compact tungsten backup jig that plays up the "small and fast" approach. When fish stop reacting to the TG Bait, changing the silhouette or color can work surprisingly well. Also good for fast turnaround in shallow to mid depths. Keep it as a safety net for when your first-string jigs go quiet.
DAIWA Real Blade TG 40g
★ 3.0Tungsten with a rear blade. Its flash and vibration on a straight retrieve or lift-and-fall make it your trump card for pulling one fish out of a sluggish, pressured school that ignores jigs that don't move. Worth tying on exactly when you're thinking, "It's over for today…"
Shout Blade Shotel 50g
★ 3.0Blade jig that searches a wide area while drawing attention. Perfect for times when you're looking for the school or covering water, and the clear resistance on a straight retrieve makes it easy for beginners. Reassuring on days when yellowtail are mixed in too. It gives you the comfort of "just reel it in and something will happen."
Comparison at a Glance
| Product | Type | Editor's rating | When to use it |
|---|---|---|---|
| TG Bait SLJ | TG, standard | ★4.0 | Your first jig / finicky fish |
| Kyoga Jig 130g | Lead, dedicated design | ★4.0 | Deep water, fast current / to burn through |
| Metal Magic TG | TG, compact | ★3.0 | Light / backup |
| Real Blade TG | TG, blade | ★3.0 | Low activity / pressured fish |
| Blade Shotel | Lead, blade | ★3.0 | Searching / covering water |
Items to Get Along With Them
Hairtail cut line with their sharp teeth. Assist hooks and a fluorocarbon leader are essential. How well you hook up — and how few fish you drop — translates directly into your catch.
Fishing report using these 5 jigs
A trip report from Ohtaya in Kanazawa-Hakkei where a red-gold TG Bait and Gamakatsu assist hooks produced 30 hits and 28 fish.
▶ Read "Epic Hairtail Jigging at Kanazawa-Hakkei! — Testing a New Assist Hook"Summary
If you're unsure, start with two pillars — TG Bait SLJ (the go-to when fish are finicky) and Kyoga Jig (for deep water and to burn through) — and add a blade jig on days when bites are scarce. That's my standard rotation. Think of jigs as consumables and carry plenty of spares in the same color and weight. Don't forget hooks and leaders that stand up to teeth, and go take on Tokyo Bay's hairtail. If you catch some, please tell me about it via the contact form.